


I Will Wait For You

by Banji



Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Genre: Angst?, Friendship, Gen, I'm sure nobody else on earth ships this, M/M, Teenage Drama, This is a weird pairing, Time Travel, Unbeta'd, dicking around in the time continuum, possible slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2034483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banji/pseuds/Banji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cross-dimensional relationships can be cumbersome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I guess let's do this. I shipped this as a joke and it (predictably) turned genuine. Whoops. I don't yet know the direction this is going to take, nor when it will end, but I have a general idea of where the plot will move. I don't have a beta so apologies for any mess-ups.

13-year-old Marty McFly sits alone on the front steps of the middle school building and watches forlornly as a group of kids zoom by on their skateboards, laughing loudly as they pass. Marty’s own skateboard had been confiscated by his overly cautious mother after his accident at the courthouse. _Kids fall off their boards all the time_ , he had argued. _It’s not that big a deal, mom!_ But his mother wouldn’t have it. Now he had to stay put at the school every day and wait for one of his parents to come pick him up instead of riding home like every other kid in town. All because of one bad turn and a stupid skinned knee.

After a few minutes of agonizing boredom, Marty stands up abruptly. “Forget this, I’m just going to walk,” he declares to no one in particular. Throwing his bag over his shoulder, he trudges down the steps and heads toward town square. It’s more of a walk than he’d like to take, but knowing his parents they would take ages to get there and then probably lecture him on the importance of safety while they got stuck in afternoon traffic. Walking was the lesser of two evils in this situation.

Marty is readjusting his heavy backpack with a huff when one of his shoelaces catch and send him tumbling headfirst into the street. He barely has time to register the approaching car when a strong pair of hands grab his shirt collar and yank him out of harm’s way. The car honks loudly and the driver yells out a rather rude phrase before speeding off. Marty rubs his head, smarting slightly from the impact, and turns to find the hand that saved him now offering to help him up.

“You okay, kid?”

His rescuer looks to be a teenager, older than himself but still not that far into adulthood. His hair is slicked back in what Marty imagines was the style when his parents were kids. His clothes look dated and yet at the same time unnatural. But all of these details mean nothing compared to the stranger’s eyes, filled with kindness and concern as he offers a hand.

“You should be more careful.”

Marty nods as he takes hold of said hand, which hoists him easily to his feet.

“Thanks, mister,” he replies, brushing off his jeans. The stranger gives him a knowing smile. Marty finds the level of familiarity a bit off-putting and starts to continue on his way before the stranger suddenly grabs hold of his arm. It’s not a threatening gesture but it causes Marty to jump.

“Please, wait.” The man’s face is suddenly serious, almost solemn. He hesitates before pulling a plain white envelope from his pocket. “Do you know a man named Dr. Emmett Brown?”

Marty gives the man a perplexed. Everyone knows about the “mad scientist” Dr. Brown and his peculiar experiments. To be honest, Marty himself has often wondered about the strange goings-on in the man’s lab, but had been told by his parents and other authority figures to never talk to him. So why is this person asking about him?

“I know of him,” the younger boy responds. “Why?”

The man holds out the envelope for Marty to take, but doesn’t let go immediately. “I need you to take this to him. Tell him it’s of great urgency. Tell him…” He pauses, searching for the right words. “Tell him he was right.”

Marty tugs the envelope out of the man’s grip and examines it. Nothing appears to be written on it aside from “Doc Brown” scrawled on the front. He looks back to the strange man.

“I’m—I’m not supposed to talk to Dr. Brown. My parents told me—“

The man gently grasps Marty’s shoulders. “I know, but I really need you do this. I need you to trust me.”

Something about his tone indicates an urgency to the situation. It scares him.

“Please, will you do this for me, Marty?”

The younger boy nods at last and tucks the envelope away into his backpack. The man smiles warmly and says, “Thank you” before straightening abruptly and turning to leave. Marty watches him disappear across the street. A red truck drives by and when it has passed, the stranger is nowhere to be found.

Marty glances around before taking the envelope out again. He stares at the name scrawled on the front: Doc Brown.

Feeling a rush of excitement from the strange encounter, Marty hurries toward the location of Dr. Brown’s garage-turned-house, gripping the envelope tightly.

It’s not until he reaches the chain-link gate of the garage that he reflects on what the man had said.

He didn’t recall actually telling the man his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this first part is really just a preview. I'll timeskip to the actual plot next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	2. Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I lost interest and found it again somehow. I do actually want to see this from start to finish, and it actually makes me really happy to see (some) people find it enjoyable. I meant to make this chapter longer and I'm sorry, but hopefully I can get the ball rolling and start getting to the good stuff. Thank you for reading.

Emmett Brown looks at his watch as he hurriedly gathers various graphs and charts. It was nearly 9:00 am and Marty was still nowhere to be found. He had postponed this day after their setbacks in the past, present and future, but they both agreed that putting it off for too long would do no good. At last, when everything in the current time period had settled from their mishaps and they were able to return to some semblance of ‘normal’, Doc had brought up the mysterious envelope and asked if Marty was ready for another adventure. The teen had initially blanched at the idea of setting foot back inside the DeLorean after everything that had happened, but Doc convinced him that as a fellow time traveler he should attend the conference as well.

Emmett pauses in his flustered packing scramble to pull the now aged envelope from his lab coat pocket. He unfolds the paper, now heavily crinkled from his often rereads and examinations of the object.

_Dr. Emmett Brown,_

_Congratulations on your eventual achievement of time travel! I am writing to you from the year 2042. Please understand first and foremost that **this is not a joke**. It is very important that you follow these instructions precisely or else the very balance of our existence may be permanently disrupted. _

_Attached to this letter you will find an invitation to the United League of Time Travelers’ eternal conference._

Emmett searches his pockets for the tickets, having already put them on his person so he wouldn’t leave them behind. He finds them tucked safely away in his back pocket and gives them a closer look. The small white certificates have the words _United League of Time Travel: Eternal Conference_ printed neatly on the front in plain black text. The insignia subset behind the text, however, is an elaborate design printed in what appeared to be some form of holographic ink, if Emmett had to guess. Clipped to the tickets was another piece of paper with a series of code on it.

_Once your time travel vehicle is operational, please enter the coordinates listed below at your earliest convenience._

He walks abruptly over to the DeLorean and examines the destination input panel. He had already entered the code and double-checked it twice to be sure it wasn’t mistaken in any way. All that had to be done, once they were prepared to leave, was press the ‘go’ button. Theoretically, at least. Emmett wasn’t entirely sure what would happen once the code was activated. It didn’t even appear to be a logical code from what he could tell. It was just a line of jumbled equations that he had long given up trying to decipher.

_The conference takes place outside of normal parameters of time and space and thus I assure you that you will not miss a thing until your arrival. You can’t be late to an event that exists outside of time, after all._

The very notion that such a place existed both thrilled and terrified the scientist. Perhaps that meant they wouldn’t age or need sustenance while they were there. Perhaps they could stay as long as they wanted to without consequences.

_Your contribution to the conference is vital._

Perhaps it was an elaborate trap.

Emmett shook the dark thoughts from his head and went back to picking up various supplies for the trip. It was too late to turn back now, and the notion of never experiencing such an event would surely break him. He was simply too curious.

“Where is that boy?” he mumbles, glancing at his watch again. He had asked Marty to be prompt for their shared adventure, which Marty had questioned since the letter clearly stated they could arrive at any point and not miss anything. Doc had responded by reaffirming the planned time for departure and made the teenager promise to arrive on time.

_I do ask, rather selfishly, that you bring your assistant Marty McFly along with you. His name has been included on the invitation and it is very important for him to attend the event._

The scientist could find no logical explanation for bringing Marty along. He was the first time traveler – aside from Einstein – but surely his young assistant would have no interest in a conference most likely fixated on scientific discovery and discussion, a fact Marty himself had pointed out. Yet the note indicated that Marty should be in attendance, so Doc continued to extend the invitation until the teen finally yielded and agreed to come.

“Except now he’s the whole reason we’re going to be late.”

The door to the garage swings open quite suddenly and Emmett turns to scold Marty for being late, but instead sees his wife Clara enter.

“You’re still here, Emmett?” she asks. “I thought you two would have left by now.”

The scientist throws his hands up in defeat. “You would think, after all the time traveling Marty has done, he would understand the importance of being on time! Apparently not!”

Clara smiles and walks over to the cluttered area surrounding his desk. She shuffles some of the papers into neat stacks. “I think maybe he’s just nervous. I mean, this isn’t like going to the past or the future.” She glances up at her husband. “There’s probably a good reason why he’s running a little late. Don’t let it ruin your whole trip.”

Emmett scoffs. “He probably overslept.”

The two jump slightly as the door bursts open and Marty runs into the room, clutching his skateboard and gasping for breath.

“Doc! Sorry I’m late, I must’ve overslept.”

Emmett shoots an exasperated look to Clara, who merely chuckles softly. She gives him a quick kiss before turning to Marty, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You two have fun. Please stay out of trouble as much as you can.” Marty smirks and gives her a nod. As she goes to leave, she adds, “And try to be home in time for dinner!”

Marty looks back to Doc, who has resumed shoving things into the already confined space of the DeLorean. “Whoa, we’re not taking the steam engine?” he asks.

“No, of course not,” the scientist responds, at last satisfied with his packing job. “The DeLorean was the first time machine, it deserves to make this trip. Plus, I have no idea what parking’s going to be like outside the parameters of space-time.” He dusts off his hands and gives a nod at the overflow of papers before turning to Marty. “Got everything you need?”

Marty gives his backpack a shake. “Hard to answer since I don’t know what to pack for, but I’ll find some way to keep myself entertained.”

Doc smirks and more or less jumps into the driver’s seat. “Well, there’s no sense in stalling any longer, so let’s get going.”

Marty throws his stuff into the floor of the passenger side before climbing in as well. He ends up with a few of Doc’s blueprints and charts poking him in the back of the head, which he tries to shove further back as Doc maneuvers them out of the garage.

_One other important thing: You will most certainly meet me or my father at the conference. Please do not let either of us know that I was the one who sent the invitation to you or any number of paradoxes may occur. I trust you of all people will understand the gravidity of this._

“Are we driving or flying?” Marty asks as they stop at the end of the drive-way.

“From what I can gather, I assume we should operate the DeLorean as it was originally intended, before the upgrades.” The scientist scans the road for onlookers and checks the coordinates one last time. “Besides, I see no reason to show off right when we first arrive. There’s always time for that later.” Satisfied that no one seems to be out and about this early, he pulls the car out into the street and faces it towards a long enough stretch of road.

The two adventurers give each other a quick glance. They had gone through so much together throughout the years, and although they did not know what this trip had in store for them, they were both glad to be making the journey together.

  _Until then, sir, it has been an honor._

“Well, no time like the present.”

Before Marty can find something to hold on to, Doc steps on the gas and the time machine roars down the empty roadway. As the speedometer nears 88, the familiar cracks and booms begin to spark around them and then there is nothing. Just another lazy Saturday morning in Hill Valley.

_Your friend,_

_Wilbur Robinson_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do want to add that I'm trying my hardest to do my research for proper timeline events, especially for the BttF portion of the story. However I'll go ahead and point out that while I may reference events from the TellTale game, I don't readily accept the animated tv show as part of this canon. Basically I'll just be using information gathered from the movies, but I just wanted to state this because I know they do a lot of farting about in history in the animated show but it's a bit too corny for what I have in mind.
> 
> Keen eyes who are familiar with the game might recognize something in the prologue though ;>

**Author's Note:**

> So this first part is really just a preview. I'll timeskip to the actual plot next chapter. Thanks for reading!


End file.
